Report: Messi out until after the international break

Barcelona will not risk Lionel Messi, and will not bring him back into action until after the international break.

Lionel Messi has been assigned to the stands with fellow teammate Luis Suarez for another game due to his injury.

Messi has already missed the two opening games of the season. A 1-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao, and a 5-2 victory over Real Betis.

In the next game, Barca will face Osasuna. According to a report in Spanish sports outlet Marca, this will also be without Messi.

The Argentine superstar has developed some form of a calf injury.

Messi has returned to regular training with the first-team squad. However, Ernesto Valverde and his backroom staff do not feel the need to rush him back.

He played little to no part in the clubs preseason preparations.

While he has been posting some impressive videos on social media of his workouts and training exercise. Training and a competitive La Liga game are two very different things.

After the game against Osasuna, the Catalonians have an international break. This means their next league game is not until September 14th.

That will give the Barca captain 14 more days to prepare and get 100% fit.

The Argentine national team, have two friendly games in that break. One against Chile and another against Mexico.

Thankfully for Barca, Messi is unavailable for Lionel Scaloni’s side.

He is serving a ban from CONMEBOL, for the red card he received in the Copa America third-place game Argentina played against Chile.

Messi could be back in time to make his first appearance of the season, possibly alongside his old friend Neymar.

Barcelona will also hope to have Luis Suarez back too by then. The attacking options for them will be scintillating, given you can also add Antoine Griezmann into that mix too.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 06: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with Neymar and Luis Suarez after scoring his team’s 3rd goal from the penalty spot during of the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF at Camp Nou stadium on May 6, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

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